Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin appeared at odds on Sunday night over peace talks as delegations prepared to discuss a possible ceasefire in Ukraine.
The United States was optimistic that Monday’s summit in Saudi Arabia could pave the way to a “full-on” ceasefire and bring an end to the three-year war, Mr Trump’s envoy to Moscow said on Sunday.
However, the Kremlin played down expectations, suggesting the meeting was “just beginning” and that “difficult negotiations” lay ahead.
“We are only at the beginning of this path,” Dmitry Peskov, spokesman for the Kremlin, warned, less than a week after Russia rejected Mr Trump’s last offer of a 30-day ceasefire.
The White House is said to be aiming for a truce by Easter Sunday in the latest sign the timetable is shifting after Mr Trump promised to end the war on day one of his presidency.
Donald Trump has made a Ukraine-Russia ceasefire a main feature of his new term in office – Matt Rourke/AP Photo
Ukraine and Europe have raised concerns that Russia is delaying in order to buy time on the battlefield, which is likely to frustrate Mr Trump, who has promised a swift end to the war.
Sources close to Mr Trump indicated on Sunday night that he was willing to wait for the right deal, but some said he was growing angry at the continued missile and drone attacks, which have been taking place despite promises from both sides of a mini truce.
“He will get frustrated if they [Ukraine and Russia] keep bombing infrastructure, infrastructure and energy,” one person close to the administration said.
Those closest to the president say temperatures remain calm inside the White House and to “trust the process”.
It comes as Sir Keir Starmer’s plan for a “coalition of the willing” was dismissed as “a posture and a pose” by Donald Trump’s special envoy.
Steve Witkoff, who Mr Trump sent to Moscow, said the idea was based on a “simplistic” notion of the Prime Minister and European leaders thinking “we have all got to be like Winston Churchill”.
Few concrete details of what troops and equipment would be sent have emerged. On Sunday, senior military sources dismissed the plans, telling The Telegraph that Sir Keir had “got ahead of himself”.
Mr Witkoff was accused of siding with Putin over the weekend as he suggested Ukraine must cede territory. On Sunday he repeated that he believed Putin was negotiating in good faith, adding that he does not think Russia will invade “all of Europe”.
Donald Trump said at the weekend efforts to stop further escalation of the war were “somewhat under control”. But the president’s assurances were undermined on Saturday night after Moscow launched drone strikes killing civilians across Ukraine.
Seven people, including a five-year-old child, were killed and 10 others injured in Kyiv. In Donetsk, four people were killed, including three who died in a strike on the town of Dobropillya.
The second round of formal talks between US and Russian negotiators is set to start on Monday in Saudi Arabia following a phone call between the two presidents last week that ended with mixed messages from both camps.
American negotiators met with Ukrainian teams in Saudi Arabia on Sunday night ahead of the US-Russia talks on Monday.
Russian drones inflicted wide-scale destruction across Ukraine on Saturday night – Yan Dobronosov/Getty Images
Volodymyr Zelensky said his country’s delegation to Sunday’s talks was working in “a completely constructive manner”.
“But no matter what we say to our partners today, we need to get Putin to give a real order to stop the strikes,” he added.
Ukraine’s Defence Minister Rustem Umerov said the talks on Sunday were “constructive and meaningful” and focused on discussing the energy sector.
“We discussed key issues, particularly the energy sector,” he said in a post on social media.
China is also said to be considering joining the potential peacekeeping mission, German newspaper Die Welt reported at the weekend.
The move was described by diplomats as an attempt to persuade Putin, who has warming relations with China, to allow foreign boots on the ground.
